Professor David Ron FMedSci FRS

Professor of Cellular Pathophysiology and Clinical Biochemistry, Cambridge Institute for Medical Research and the Institute of Metabolic Science, University of Cambridge

David Ron has pioneered our understanding of how cells cope with the stress induced by protein misfolding in the endoplasmic reticulum. This stress is increasingly recognised to contribute to many diseases including endocrine disorders and neurodegeneration. Among many achievements, he has deciphered the molecular mechanism by which cells match protein synthesis rates to protein folding in the secretory pathway. His greatest conceptual contribution has been to reveal the precariousness of the protein folding environment in the ER and to highlight how it is challenged by subtle failure of homeostasis - concepts with both fundamental implications to biology and therapeutic application.